What If
by StephAnders
Summary: What if, at the end of Cathing Fire, Katniss had been taken by President Snow and Peeta had been saved by Haymitch? What if President Snow had been experimenting on Katniss to deal out some poetic justice? What if she was pregnant?I dont own Hunger Games
1. Chapter 1

**The last thing I remember was the explosion. I remember shooting my arrow, connected to Beetee's wire, at the force field. The 'chink in the armour' he'd called it. I remember the racking pains through my body as my world was being obliterated around me. Sounds so deafening I thought my body would be irreparable. The last thing I remember from the arena was being lifted by a hovercraft. Then, I remember something else, a voice, one that sends shivers down my spine. **

"_**Ah, Katniss. So I hear you're pregnant." **_**Then laughter, from more than one voice. And headaches. Horrid, vivid and intense headaches. My memory is still fuzzy from my injuries. All I know is that I've been fading in and out of consciousness for a long time.**

**I opened my eyes slowly to find myself strewn across an unfamiliar military style bed. I slowly sit up and take stock of my surroundings. The room is made of white, padded walls with a small security camera in the top left corner. The bed is small with a single blanket and no pillow. There are no windows and only one door, which appears to be made out of some sort of metal. I could probably walk the length of the room in a few steps. I was wearing a plain white shift with short sleeves and a hem that went past my knees. I lie back down on the bed and look at the ceiling. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from panicking too much. I can feel my heart pounding unsteadily in my chest. **_**Where the hell am I? Why can't I remember? **_

**A crackling, fuzzy noise erupts from the surveillance camera.**

"**Please remain calm, Katniss. Everything is fine." A man's gravely voice orders from a small speaker. I jump slightly and sit erect on the edge of the bed, searching for the source of the voice. I open my mouth to speak but no words come out. I clear my throat and try again.**

"**Haymitch?" I said nervously, "Is that you?"**

**Silence. **

**I started biting my lip. I had been sure it was Haymitch, but I was probably wrong. Haymitch wouldn't put me in this… cell.**

**The crackling noise began again and I started. **

"**It is." Haymitch replied, his voice strained. **_**Wrong again, Katniss! **_**I chided myself, **_**Haymitch would put you in here.**_

"**Thank God." I sighed in relief, "Let me out and we can talk."**

"**I can't do that."**

"**What? Is the door stuck or something?" I joked, although my heart rate had skyrocketed.**

"**No, the door works perfectly. However," He said reluctantly, "You are not allowed out."**

**It took me a few seconds for it to sink in. Haymitch locked me up. **_**Haymitch**_** locked **_**me**_** up. **_**Haymitch**_**. Damn, I was angry.**

"**Katniss, we need you to answer a few questions-"**

"**You can shove your questions straight up your arse! Where the hell am I?!" I yelled over the top of him, standing from the bed, my fists clenched angrily at my sides. **

**Unfortunately I still couldn't find the source of the voice, so I made do by staring directly down the lens of the camera. There was a fury in my eyes and self that I didn't know I could generate. It probably seemed childish that I was mad at Haymitch, I should feel glad that he was nearby, right? Well I wasn't. Not this time. **

"**Katniss," He began, his voice was calm but firm, "You have to calm down."**

"**Screw that!" I yelled again, "And screw you, Haymitch, you drunken bastard! Let me out!" This was completely ridiculous, if he didn't let me out soon I was going to have to do something drastic. I didn't know what, but I'd think of something. I always did. **

"**Listen here-" He said angrily.**

"**No." How _dare_ he lock me up like this?**

"**Katniss-"**

"**No." Was I just some pile of nothing to be locked up on a whim?**

"**You can be such a stubborn, little-"**

"**Haymitch!" A faint voice from the speaker interrupted, "Let me." The speaker clicked off and the room was silent. **

**I stood there for a while, anger still pent up with adrenaline pulsing erratically through my veins. When it was obvious that they weren't going to talk to me again, I sat back down on the bed and covered my face with my hands. How could he do this to me? Haymitch is my friend, why would he imprison me like I was a threat? **

_**Don't forget, there are other people in on it too**_**, I thought miserably. I wrapped my arms around my middle. **

**And screamed.**

**The speaker exploded, crackling with life as several different voices started speaking at once. **

"_**Katniss!**_**"**

"**What happened?"**

"**What did she do?"**

"**Shut **_**up**_**!"**

**The voices keep shouting, but I blocked them out easily. I trail my hands over my stomach in horror, how could I not have noticed this before? My abdomen stuck out further than it had last time I had seen it, in fact, it was the most it had ever been.**

**It was too far out to be fat, and too... _fleshy_ to be bloating. Which left me with few other alternatives. **

_**But I'm still a virgin**_**, I thought, my mind racing with a million possibilities, **_**I couldn't be pregnant. **_

"**No," I whispered and I began to clutch at my swollen belly, "no, no, no, no, **_**no**_**!"**

**I began to panic, I must have been in here for more than a month, maybe even two for this much… development. I started to cry. Not just a few tears, I was screaming and howling and making a scene. What have they _done_ to me? I heard people at the metal door, big metal gears clinking and turning.**

_**No, **_**I thought, **_**they can't come near me, I won't let them! Monsters!**_

**I scrambled off the bed and into the furthest corner from the door, just as a swarm of people burst in. **

**I knew them all. Peeta, Gale, Finnick, Haymitch, Heavensbee, followed by a few medics that I had seen at my first Hunger Games. **

"**Get away from me." I hiss as they approach ever closer.**

"**Katniss, it's me," Peeta says in a reassuring voice, "It's Peeta."**

"**Really?" I spat, "And here I though you were President Snow." With that, a searing headache pounded into my skull and wedged itself firmly in my brain. **_**President Snow**_**. I cried out and clawed at my head. The memory of the voice flooded back to me.**

"_**So I hear you're pregnant." **_

**_President Snow_, I thought, finally making the connection. I screamed in agony before the pain was too much too bear, and then I blacked out.**


	2. Chapter 2

After one of my headaches, waking up was the worst. Out of the few things I remember, that one stuck. It was like branding your eyes with a hot iron, then lighting your hair on fire and punching yourself in the stomach. At the same time. Light was too painful to look at, and motion would usually make me throw up.

My eyes flicked open. The world wasn't spinning and light didn't burn, so I must be dreaming. I was in a room filled with baby clothes, cribs, mobiles, toys and a miniature playground. The walls were all a baby blue adorned with pale pink, hand painted balloons. There were even clouds. I was laying on what appeared to be the largest sofa in existence. It was cream and soft, with little tortoise shell buttons and it covered an entire wall. One hundred people could have fit in the room comfortably standing. There was a small bed on the wall opposite to the sofa, as well as a changing table and a pale green door. There was a crackling soundtrack issuing from several speakers embedded in the ceiling. The music was very old-fashioned and the lyrics were… different. The song sounded old, much too old. It made me nervous, and it was on repeat. Okay… I'm definitely dreaming.

'_Hush, hush, hush, here comes the boogey man,_

_Don't let him come too close to you,_

_He'll catch you if he can.'_

_This is so creepy_, I thought as I sat up and made my way over to the pale green door.

As if on autopilot, I opened the door, switched on the light and found myself in a small bathroom. Everything was in the same pale green as the door. I sat down on the toilet lid and grabbed a small bottle of pills from the floor. After a perfunctory glance at the label I popped the lid off the container and dry swallowed the last three of the tiny red pills without a second thought.

"Can't forget these." I said cheerily to no one in particular.

_What the hell am I doing?! _I thought urgently, _What the hell were those?_

"Katniss?" Someone's muffled voice issued from behind the door, "Katniss? It's dinner time."

_This isn't a dream_, I thought slowly, the wheels in my head clicking into place, _It's a memory…_

"Oh goody!" I said enthusiastically and leaped off the toilet lid and yanked the door open-

-Only to find myself retching into a white plastic bucket, with someone holding back my hair and rubbing my back soothingly. My head felt like it was splitting in half and my eyes felt swollen and burned. I was able to stop momentarily and catch my breath before my stomach contents started to gush back out. After a few minutes, and two buckets later, I'd managed to stop for good. There had been a few false stops, where I'd start to lay back on the bed, to be confronted with another stab of pain behind my eyes and more vomit flowing from my mouth and nose. I felt so tired, so exhausted, I went straight back to sleep.

When I woke up I was fairly certain that I was not where I had fallen asleep.

I hadn't really had time to get a look at my surroundings, or my helper, whilst being sick into the bucket, so taking the opportunity, I analysed my new location.

Wow.

Well, uh…

This was not what I had expected.

This was… well it was… ummm.

Whew.

Ahem.

I was currently lying on top of a mattress, a mattress… that was _floating on the ocean_.

_The_ _Ocean._

Birds were whistling overhead and the sky was a gorgeous light blue.

"What the hell?" I said weakly, the taste of sick still in my mouth and the smell of salt water in my nose.

I lay absolutely still as wave after wave of water lapped against the mattress, and wave after wave of nausea attacked my stomach.

_Too… much… motion_, I thought dizzily, _Too… much-_

I threw up.

I managed to not only throw up on my self, but all over the mattress as well.

"Oh god…" I whispered as another bout of nausea overtook my body.

I was in the process of vomiting up a kidney, when the horizon opened up and a very large, very nervous Plutarch Heavensbee made a slow jog onto the water. Not into, _onto_. He was walking on the water as if it was solid ground.

"Terribly sorry, my dear," He said as he traversed a wave, a heavy sweat appearing on his brow, "I thought it would be soothing."

A smaller figure hurried out of the gap in the sky and rushed to my side. It was the red-haired Avox girl. She examined me for a moment, her small hands smoothing my hair and rubbing my back in slow, calming circles.

Noticing that the ocean was still beating against the mattress, she stood quickly and ran over to an oddly circular cloud. And slammed it with her fist. The ocean froze and the birds were silent statues in the sky.

Heavensbee took a small step forward and the Avox girl whipped around to face him.

"I thought it would be…" He trailed off, the Avox girl's eyes glared daggers at him. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him.

Her stance said '_I told you so, and now look what you've done_.'

Heavensbee opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

The Avox girl adjusted her stance to crossing her arms, as if to say, '_Well? What do you have to say for yourself?_'

"I…" Heavensbee began, wiping his face with a handkerchief.

The Avox girl threw up her arms in exasperation and knelt back down beside me. She put my arms around her neck and lifted me into her arms. She gave me a reassuring smile and carried me over the water and through the hole in the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Turns out that I wasn't in the ocean. I was inside a creation of Heavensbee's old gamemaker days. There were scent dispensers and speakers, as well as a malleable floor made of some sort of rubber-like substance, supported by tiny metallic pedestals underneath the floor. They could be programmed to be like different environments. The entire room was a holographic chamber. It was just called the Chamber.**

**At least, that's what I think Heavensbee told me. I wasn't really listening. After being carried out of the Chamber by the Avox girl, who, now that I could see her properly, had a sprinkling of freckles and hair down to the small of her back. She was quite pretty. Heavensbee took me to the controls room, as if a special tour would make up for the fact he had made me throw up.**

**I walked through it in a daze, the Avox girl supporting me the whole time. Occasionally she would direct a furtive glance at my swollen abdomen, and then back to my face. It was a bit obvious, but Heavensbee and I both ignored it. **

**The control room was very small, and cramped. It could probably only fit two regularly sized people, not two teenagers and a chubby adult. Buttons lined the walls, along with monitors and a variety of computer parts, that created a sort of technological mosaic. Beetee and Wiress would have loved this place. **

"**What happened to Beetee?" The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. I couldn't remember much after the explosion, but I knew that if I survived, Beetee might have too.**

**Heavensbee, who was in the middle of explaining how the air pressures changed to simulate wind, froze. He turned around, his face a stoic mask to match the hard stare he gave me. **

"**The tour has concluded." He said firmly but not unkindly. "I'm sorry that I made you sick, I thought I was helping."**

"**It's okay. You didn't know how I would react." I answered, trying not to notice how the Avox girl's fists were clenched, and how she glowered at Heavensbee.**

"**Aimee, make sure the door locks behind you." Heavensbee said as we left the control room.**

"**Aimee?" I questioned as I looked around for whoever Heavensbee was talking to. The Avox girl sat me down on the floor outside of the Chamber and the control room. We were in a long, dirty corridor. Rusty and water-stained walls everywhere, I think I saw a rat as well. The place looked abandoned. **

**Heavensbee saw my confusion and explained, his earlier firmness slowly evaporating. **

"**It's in case the Capitol find our hideout." He began, "This place is supposed to look abandoned. I used the same visual technology out here as I did inside of the Chamber. It could fool all of the Capitol's gamemakers." He finished proudly.**

"**Oh." I said stupidly. I didn't get it.**

**Heavensbee sighed. "Aimee, is the door lock properly this time?"**

**The Avox girl came back into view and nodded to Heavensbee. **

"**Your name is Aimee?" I asked, somewhat shocked that she had a name. **_**Of course she has a name Katniss**_**, I chastised myself, **_**She's a person, you know**_**. **

**She gave me another smile and nodded.**

"**Nice to meet you." I said, a smile on my face as well. She rolled her eyes and helped me off the floor. She was careful, and her eyes kept flicking to my abdomen.**

"**I'm fine." I said unable to ignore it any longer. Aimee nodded, but didn't understand, or maybe she just didn't care. **

"**Trust me," Heavensbee advised, a smile playing on his lips, "She won't stop… acting as she does around you. She knew you were pregnant before the rest of us did, and she made sure that if we weren't treating you right then we weren't allowed near you. We found out about the pregnancy when you panicked back in the holding cell."**

"**So that's where I was. Hang on, why the hell was I in a **_**holding cell?**_**" I was starting to get angry again, "Aimee, it's okay I can walk by myself!" Aimee didn't let go.**

"**Let her walk by herself, Aimee." Heavensbee ordered, avoiding my question. Fine, he can be that way, but I **_**will**_** find out.**

**Aimee watched me carefully, hands hovering, ready to rush to my side at any moment. Heavensbee set off down the filthy corridor and I followed slowly. Using the wall to support myself, I limped along, drained of energy. Aimee kept pace with me, and I was glad. I felt like I could trust her, and if Heavensbee was telling the truth, she wanted to help me, to keep me safe. At least someone was there to look after me.**

**Heavensbee rounded a corner about ten metres ahead and I was struggling to keep up.**

"_**Plutarch Heavensbee!**_**" A familiar voice roared.**

"**Ah, Haymitch, my old friend," Heavensbee's voice said nervously, I could almost imagine him wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve. "I seem to have come the wrong way, my mistake. I'll see you at dinner." **

**Heavensbee rounded the corner again at a speed I didn't know he possessed. **

"**HEAVENSBEE!" Haymitch yelled. I could hear footsteps pounding towards us.**

**Heavensbee gave Aimee a meaningful look and raced past us. Wasting no time, Aimee picked me up without warning and ran after him.**

"**Whats going on?" I asked as we raced down the corridor. Aimee looked at me and shook her head, breathing hard. I turned my head to look behind us, and saw Haymitch running after us.**

**Haymitch. **

**Running.**

**It was a sight.**

**He was a very angry runner, taking his fury out by stomping on the floor and punching the air, his limbs flailing around erratically. His face was bright red and his eyes were squinted. He was gaining on us. I'd lost sight of Heavensbee, and apparently so had Aimee. We stopped at a cross section in the corridor, one path went left, another right, and another straight ahead. We both searched the area for any sign of him, but came up with nothing. **

**On impulse I said "Go right!" **

**Aimee sped down the right corridor and gave me a look of gratitude. I spun my head back around to watch Haymitch. He was much closer now, his eyes were focused on the ground, his feet pounding away on the ground. His footsteps were echoing around us, I don't think that Aimee **_**made**_** a sound when she ran. **

**Haymitch must have noticed that someone was watching him, because he looked up and our eyes met. He was close enough for me to see recognition register on his features as his limbs froze and he stood, dumbfounded, as we sprinted away. We rounded another corner and I couldn't see him anymore.**

"**Katniss." I heard him call. It wasn't a question, he was stating the fact that he knew I was there.**

"**Haymitch." I called back. **

**As Amee slowed to a jog and yanked open a door on our right. We barrelled in, slamming the door behind us. Amee tossed me on the bed as she herself collapsed into an armchair, panting heavily. We were in a bedroom, from the look of it, it wasn't hers. The room was fairly small, but sort of cosy. There were a few books on a dresser and a small bedside table with a framed picture on it in the corner by the door. Including the bed and armchair, that was all there was in the room. **

"**Why are we hiding? I want to talk to Haymitch. Why did he lock me up? Where are we?" I asked her, I was bursting with questions. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten Aimee was an Avox. She just shrugged and shook her head.**

**Still breathing hard, Aimee got up from the armchair and opened the dresser. She rummaged around for a few moments before brining out two men's sized shirts, a red one and a blue, and two belts. She tossed the blue shirt and a belt to me and kept a belt and the red shirt for herself. We were both currently wearing plain white shifts covered with my stomach contents. Understanding what she wanted, I peeled off my crusty shift, thankful that I was wearing a black camisole and shorts underneath. **

"**Who's shirts are these?" I asked as I slipped the shirt on. Aimee, who was in the process of rolling up the sleeves of her shirt, pointed to the photograph on the small table. I buttoned my shirt and tightened the belt firmly just below my waist, it curved downwards beneath my swollen staomach the back up around my waist. I walked over to the framed photo and picked it up casually, curious to see who's clothes we were stealing. As I was trying to make out who was in the photo, Aimee came up to me and started to roll up my too-long sleeves.**

**The people in the photo looked familiar, something about the bronze-hair, tanned boy with the quick smile and angular but handsome features, the middle-aged woman with the pretty blonde hair and warm eyes, and the young woman. She was lovely, a gorgeous heart-shaped face with small, full lips and big eyes. Letting my eyes wander down the picture, I saw the names. Annie, Mags, Finnick.**

**I dropped the frame. **

"**This is **_**Finnick's room**_**?!" I squealed with barely contained anxiety. Amee looked at me like I had three heads and nodded.**

"**We have to go." Aimee nodded again. "And find Heavensbee?" I questioned. She smiled but shook her head. She grabbed my hand and we snuck out of the door.**

**Once in the hallway Aimee stayed close to the walls, still holding my hand, her eyes searching for something on the wall. We had gone past eight doors before she stopped and paused outside a door that said DANGER! In big red letters. Aimee opened the door and strode inside, letting go of my hand for a moment. A loud crack issues from the room and the lights in the hall go out. **

"**Aimee?" I whispered, leaning inside the door, "Aimee?" I heard a shuffling and felt her grab hold of my hand again. We start to jog in the other direction as our eyes adjust. Aimee takes a few sharp turns before I realise that she's pulled out the power to the whole of wherever we are. I was getting nervous, and I kept tripping over my feet and Aimee's too. After a few minutes, we stop at another door and Aimee snuck in with me in tow.**

"**Aimee? That you?" A husky voice asks from the darkness, "Lemme turn on my back-up light, hang on." **

**Aimee, pushed me gently towards a wall, positioning herself in front of me, our hands still entwined. After a few moments of cursing and clicking noises, a torch flicks on, illuminating the room. Aimee left my side for a moment to shut the door we had come through, and I could see that we are in a room similar to Finnick's room, but a lot messier. **

"**The back-up generator should kick in soon." The familiar voice says.**

**Then I see him. Grey eyes the same shade as mine, dark hair, handsome features.**

"**Gale." I breathed, it felt so cathartic to say his name, I felt like I could say it over and over again.**

"**Katniss." He whispered back. I ran into his arms and he into mine. I pressed my face into his chest as I started to sob, he held me tightly and stroked my hair softly.**


End file.
